When
started, there were so many characters with fairly similar names it was difficult to keep track of it all. I remember it took me until around the end of the second season before I knew the majority of
, with even the names of major characters integral to the plot escaping me at times.
As the hit HBO show came into its seventh (and penultimate) season, it started to move everything into place for an explosive finale, which us fans will have to wait until 2019 to see. This meant thinning out the cast, with characters being killed off or traveling across the world to join forces with others. It makes sense, as it's difficult to conclude a saga when one character is an entire continent away from the rest.
This also meant ending arcs and reuniting old friends and family members. We finally saw the Stark sisters Arya and Sansa find each other once again, after years spent suffering various misfortunes on opposite sides of the world. Their conflict was teased but ultimately subverted when they teamed up to finally take down the duplicitous Littlefinger.
But this wasn't the only Stark reunion this season, as Jon Snow met with a relative he believed had been long dead. We had already seen Benjen Stark, living beyond the wall, as he stepped in to help out Bran and Meera from being killed by a group of wights. However, the last time Jon had seen him was in the first season, when he was due to go ranging beyond the wall, a trip from which he never returned.
So it came as some surprise when he saved Jon during the season seven episode 'Beyond the Wall'. In that episode,
and his army got the upper hand against Jon's loyal band of soldiers, as they were trapped following the failure of their ludicrously risky scheme to kidnap a wight from the icy barrens of the north. Left alone by his group as they made their escape, Jon looks as if he is going to be torn apart.
That's when Benjen arrives on the scene, fighting off the hoards of zombies and revealing to his nephew that he was still alive. Soon after their reunion Benjen helps Jon on to his horse and sends him on his way. Given how brief the scene was, many wondered whether he got out alive or finally succumbed to death in that scene. Now, we have an answer.
Speaking on the Season 7 DVD commentary, the director of this episode, Alan Taylor, confirmed that he does die after rescuing Jon. “He meets his end here,” Taylor said on the commentary over this scene, putting an end to all debates and fan theories on the subject.
Many believed that he could return, given the how he had eluded death before.
Benjen had previously described that he had been attacked by White Walkers in the past, one of whom stabbed him with an ice sword and left him for dead. Before it was his time, the Children of the Forest stopped him from becoming a mindless wight by shoving a piece of dragonglass into his chest.
However, it seems that he didn't fare well in this episode, and has officially become part of the long list of dead characters on the show.
